{"product_id":"hard-ground-9780292726499","title":"Hard Ground","description":"\u003cp\u003eMichael OBrien got out of his car one day in 1975 and sought the acquaintance of a man named John Madden who lived under an overpass. Their initial contact grew into a friendship that OBrien chronicled for the Miami News  where he began his career as a staff photographer. OBriens photo essays conveyed empathy for the homeless and the disenfranchised and won two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards. In 2006  OBrien reconnected with the issue of homelessness and learned the problem has grown exponentially since the 1970s  with as many as 3.5 million adults and children in America experiencing homelessness at some point in any given year. In Hard Ground  OBrien joins with renowned singer-songwriter Tom Waits  described by the New York Times as \"the poet of outcasts \" to create a portrait of homelessness that impels us to look into the eyes of people who live \"on the hard ground\" and recognize our common humanity. For Waits  who has spent decades writing about outsiders  this subject is familiar territory. Combining their formidable talents in photography and poetry  OBrien and Waits have crafted a work in the spirit of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men  in which James Agees text and Walker Evanss photographs were \"coequal  mutually independent  and fully collaborative\" elements. Letting words and images communicate on their own terms  rather than merely illustrate each other  Hard Ground transcends documentary and presents independent  yet powerfully complementary views of the trials of homelessness and the resilience of people who survive on the streets.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45279510134837,"sku":"ByrdShop_029272649X","price":267.31,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780292726499_d97625ce-baa1-428b-9533-93cdbb735c61.jpg?v=1780601019","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/hard-ground-9780292726499","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}